Sarah Pauly Pitching Clips

[ssarge]

Hey, guys, I came across these clips on YouTube, and thought they might be of interest.

I spend a lot more time on the hitting side than the pitching. But I have worked previosuly with Sarah and her dad Rick on a video project, and know them to be great people. To my recollection, Sarah is still something like 4th all-time in D1 for K's per 7 IP. Was on the National team for a while, and was the MVP pitcher in NPF one year. She's a good pitcher to study, I think, and I thought the quality of these clips was great.

Best regards,

Scott

YouTube - paulygirl1

 

[ctfastpitch]

Good videos. I noticed on all three of these she re-plants her right foot in front of the plate before pushing off, and has both feet off the ground during her leap. Both are technically illegal, but most of the elite pitchers seem to get away with it. She DOES, however, stay down the power line. A lot of the other elite pitchers clearly stride way off the line, and many end up outstide the 2 ft pitchers lane. Saw that start to get called in the WCWS last summer.

 

[lefturn]

I agree she was a very good pitcher, but her mechinics are questionable. She crop-hops, then leaps. Not sure if this is what young students should watch...nice rise ball.

 

[Mike]

No need to defend her, her resume speaks volumes. I paused the video at various points between 12 oclock and release on each pitch and her body position is nearly identical. Her athletic ability may allow her to get away with some things my 11 yo might not, but I will definately show her these videos. She is very consistant, that is something all young pitchers should try to emulate. It also shows that throwing different pitches is all in the grip, and release/spin and it clearly shows the ball MUST be pointed up at 3/9 oclock (whatever your reference point is) to get full use of internal rotation. I got alot from these videos as will my daughter. Thanks for posting.

Mike

 

[FJRGerry]

If I recall Monica Abbot was charged with an illegal pitch for replanting during a game I watched on TV last summer. All three clips show Sarah lifting/replanting her pivot foot, as well as crow hopping, so I agree these aren't the best clips from those perspectives for teaching mechanics.

 

[sluggers]

She does not crow-hop. A crow hop is a replant of the foot. She never replants her push-off foot.

She does lift her push off foot off the rubber and her right foot does not maintain contact with the ground during the pitch. Both of these are very minor problems.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

So then you agree that these "minor problems" are indeed indicative of an illegal pitch and you would not lose your cool arguing with the umpire that called them, correct? Because last time I checked the rule book, there was no exception under "illegal pitch" for "minor problems".

 

[ctfastpitch]

She does not crow-hop. A crow hop is a replant of the foot. She never replants her push-off foot.

She does lift her push off foot off the rubber and her right foot does not maintain contact with the ground during the pitch. Both of these are very minor problems.

I don't know if I would call it a crow hop, but if you look at the rise & c/u video (both are from behind), she definitely steps off the pitcher's plate with her right foot, then plants and pushes off from in front of the plate. It may not technically be a crow hop, but she most definitely is planting her right foot in front of the rubber, and pushing off from there. Either case, I suspect if there was a 14U or 16U kid doing that in a tournament, she would get called on it, after the opposing coach pointed it out.

Generally, I would not nit-pick a pitcher's delivery, unless she is getting an unfair advantage. On this one though, if I noticed it, I think I would call attention to it.

My other point was, that it seems like the elite pitchers get away with things like this on a pretty frequent basis.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

I love the "as long as it doesn't give an unfair advantage..." discussion with the coach when I'm behind the plate or on the bases and I call an IP. If the coach doesn't play the "she hasn't been called for it all year" card, then the coach will bring out the "what advantage is she getting over the batter?" card. My response invariably is "If there's no unfair advantage to what she is doing, why not pitch according to the rules?"

 

[ctfastpitch]

I love the "as long as it doesn't give an unfair advantage..." discussion with the coach when I'm behind the plate or on the bases and I call an IP. If the coach doesn't play the "she hasn't been called for it all year" card, then the coach will bring out the "what advantage is she getting over the batter?" card. My response invariably is "If there's no unfair advantage to what she is doing, why not pitch according to the rules?"

I'm not suggesting I would have a problem with an umpire calling it on my pitcher (or my DD), and I personally would not bring out those arguments. We, as coaches, have always told the pitchers on our teams (two of our DD's pitch for our team) they need to pitch according to the rules. My point was that as an opposing coach, I would not go pointing out "minor" flaws to the umpire that IMO did not give an advantage (things like not bringing the hands together for 1 full second, or maybe stepping back after she presents, etc.) I think those are more individual quirks that don't really provide an advantage. I might mention it to the opposing coach after the game, just so she can work on correcting it if she chooses. In those cases, if the umpire picks up on it and calls it on their own, that is up to them.

However, if I felt that the "illegal" action was giving an advantage, then I probably would mention it to the umpire. I don't feel an opposing pitcher is entitled to an edge that is not available to my pitcher because she stays within the rules. Things like re-planting the push-off, quick-pitching, not keeping contact on the drag, etc. fall into this second category.